Washington Gas Light Company Business Information, Profile, and History

Company Perspectives:

Washington Gas Light Co.'s mission is to "provide the best energy value&mdashø be the customers' choice for energy, profitably offering all products and services at competitive prices."

History of Washington Gas Light Company

Washington Gas Light Company provides natural gas to the metropolitan Washington, D.C., area including segments of Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. It has provided gas service to customers in the District of Columbia since 1848 and has grown with the capital city as it changed from a sleepy southern town to an international metropolis. For Washington Gas Light (WGL), this meant acquiring smaller regional gas companies and broadening service to surrounding states as the population grew and suburbs extended. By 1996, more than 770,000 natural gas customers were served in Maryland (43 percent), Virginia (33 percent), West Virginia (two percent), and the District of Columbia (22 percent).

Formative Years

On July 8, 1848, four days after the cornerstone was laid for the Washington Monument, Washington Gas Light Co. received its charter from Congress. About 45,000 people lived in the rough hewn capital city with its chronically muddy streets and lackluster infrastructure. A few buildings were lit by gas produced by an apparatus fired by wood or coal that created water carbureted hydrogen gas. But this gas lighting was confined to large institutions such as Georgetown College, theaters, and a few hotels.

Washington's citizens were jealous of their counterparts in Baltimore and Philadelphia where gas lighting was available in many neighborhoods. To some extent, throughout its history, the administration of Washington, D.C., has been under the aegis of Congress. In order to effect change, Washington's citizens had to petition Congress to bring gas light to the city's streets. Though groups appealed to Congress several times during the 1840s, they did not meet with success.

Then in 1847, James Crutchett, an entrepreneur who had demonstrated gas lighting in Cincinnati, Wheeling, West Virginia, and other cities, proposed that Congress pay him to light up the Capitol and its grounds with gas. Crutchett's Capitol Hill gas lighting project was a success, but it was Benjamin B. French, Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives and friend to at least two Presidents, who had the connections to organize a gas company for Washington. French and a group of prominent local businessmen bought Crutchett's patent rights to produce gas and took over the business of supplying gas light to the Capitol. From there it was a short step to achieving incorporation and the Congressional charter. Washington Gas Light Company was thus the first Congressionally chartered gas company and is the first public utility so chartered that is still in operation.

During the 1850s, improvements and modern conveniences were introduced in this "gas light" era. But while street lights were installed in a few showcase neighborhoods where homes were illuminated, other districts remained dark and primitive. Running water and sanitary facilities were sparse, farm animals were penned in the alleys and grazed in the city's open spaces. Transportation was happenstance.

George W. Riggs, who had founded the Corcoran and Riggs bank with William W. Corcoran, become president of the WGL company in 1856. Riggs was a powerful, well-connected Washingtonian with the resources and allies to expand the fledgling gas company. In 1858 the West Station Gas Works were constructed at 26th Street and G Street N.W., while the company headquarters were at 514 Eleventh Street N.W. just above Pennsylvania Avenue. In 1860, the city corporation established the office of gas meter inspector and sealer, bringing public utility regulation under local authority.

With the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861 came disorder and heartbreak along with growth and activity. Troops were bivouacked on their way to the battlefields, purveyors of goods and services to the army flocked to the city. The work force expanded to support the military. The city experienced a brush with the Confederate forces when General Early's troops were engaged at Fort Stevens, but Washington itself was not burnt or bombarded. Parallel to the difficulties experienced by the city and the nation as a whole, a coal shortage during the war caused WGL's costs to increase, even as Congress reduced the gas rate by 17 percent.

President Grant in 1869 made the District of Columbia a Territorial Government, giving it a governor and council, a house of delegates and a delegate to Congress, a short-lived privilege that ended in 1874 when Congress established the Commission Government, putting the city more squarely under Congressional authority. Meanwhile WGL continued to expand and built a new headquarters at 413 Tenth Street N.W.

When Thomas Edison's invention, the incandescent lamp, hit the marketplace in 1878, the gas light industry considered it a serious competitive threat. The United States Electric Lighting Company of Washington tried to install electric lights along Pennsylvania Avenue in 1881, but just as gas lighting concerns had a difficult time getting established in the city, electric lighting was held at bay, and gas street lighting endured for several more decades. In 1888, WGL constructed its East Station Plant at 12th Street and N Street S.E. along the Anacostia River. Construction was seriously hampered by the marshy ground; walls would collapse and disappear into the river.

At the turn of the century, WGL had more than 54,000 gas meters in a thriving city of 330,000 people. Intending to secure a future site for a gas manufacturing plant, during 1913 WGL bought Analostan Island, in the Potomac River. The same year brought regulatory change. The Public Utilities Commission was created for Washington, D.C.; Congress would no longer directly regulate the city's utilities.

The First World War brought food rationing, fuel and labor shortages, even before the United States entered the war in 1917. During W.W. I, WGL expanded, by purchasing Rosslyn Gas Company in northern Virginia and adding it to the controlling interest already held in The Georgetown Gaslight Company. The expansion may have been too hasty, however. By the early 1930's, WGL was divesting real estate, selling Analostan Island to the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Association and unloading the parcel of land that had been the Maryland Avenue Plant, a possession held since 1851.

The New Era

On January 31, 1931, President Hoover signaled from the White House to turn on a giant valve at the WGL's East Station Plant to open the current of natural gas flowing from Kentucky and West Virginia. This gas was mixed with manufactured gas and distributed to customers. The New Deal brought population expansion which further intensified during World War II. Gas main lines were extended to Rockville, Maryland, nearly 20 miles out of the city. With the direct pipelines to the Appalachian region, thousands of new customers could be provided with gas. WGL grew out of its office building and purchased land at 11th Street and H Street for a new headquarters. Even through the years of the Great Depression, in fact during the first hundred years of the company's history, WGL sustained dividends every year since 1866.

From the beginning, WGL manufactured gas using a variety of methods. At first, the company made rosin gas. Later on, coal gas, oil gas, and carbureted water gas was processed until the introduction of natural gas in 1931 when gas from the Appalachian region became available to the Washington, D.C. area. Carbureted water gas was made by passing steam through hot coke or a mixture of coal and coke, then by adding oil gas, the water gas was enriched or carbureted. After World War II, natural gas supplies were augmented by sources of Texas gas sent via pipelines built or improved for war time emergency oil supply. During 1946-47, WGL adapted all customers' gas appliances to use natural gas, an enormous task involving some three million gas burners of domestic and commercial appliances.

From the post-W.W. II era onward, through the turbulent 1960s, Washington, D.C. enjoyed a steady population growth. In 1963, WGL's long term attempt to establish underground storage facilities for its natural gas came to a head. Land had been acquired in Brandywine, Maryland, in Prince George's County, an area that was then sparsely populated. The company wanted to stockpile gas purchased at uniform low rates for use during periods of peak demand. Safety concerns by residents close to the proposed site inflamed the legislative debate which turned on increased tax revenues for one county and threatened property values in a neighboring county. The underground storage project was stymied. During the summer of 1963, WGL announced a plan to acquire and operate a natural gas field in Hampshire County, West Virginia, some 125 miles northwest of Washington, D.C., and far from the safety concerns of suburban homeowners. The gas field would be owned by a new subsidiary, Hampshire Gas Co., with a view to providing gas to customers during the ever increasing demand, especially for winter peak loads.

Conservation efforts during the 1970s energy crisis and the usual customer attrition rate meant that less gas was being sold. As the economic times were inflationary, labor, construction, and interest costs were spiraling. Gas prices doubled from 1974 to 1977 and utility bills hit the ceiling. So did customers. But even during these tumultuous times, WGL continued to raise dividends for investors.

Competition in the 1980s

The 1980s ushered in an era of rapidly rising commercial and residential real estate values to the Washington, D.C. area. Construction boomed, but many of the new houses were designated for electric heating. WGL survived a series of potentially destructive events during this time--aggressive competition from the electric industry, changes in regulatory policy, and labor strikes.

In August 1985, aiming to improve competitiveness in the energy market, WGL created company divisions to serve Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. By decentralizing, the company hoped to counter heavy competition from aggressive electric companies promoting the merits of electric heat pumps for low cost home heating and from the oil industry which had been in a price slide.

Intending to stimulate competition and produce lower gas prices for consumers, federal energy regulators in the fall of 1985 changed policy regulations and established a voluntary rule requiring pipelines that had previously been buying and selling natural gas as well as transporting it, confine their activities to transporting the gas. In theory, this move would allow gas distribution companies such as WGL to purchase cheaper gas produced far away and pass the savings along to their customers. But large volume gas users such as hospitals and government agencies then sought avenues to cut their own deals with the producers, bypassing the local distributor, WGL.

In June 1986, 1,250 employees enrolled in the International Union of Gas Workers struck at WGL, the company's first strike in 25 years. Excessive overtime was the complaint, caused by staffing reductions, a policy the company had been implementing since 1982. Labor strife occurred again in 1995 when members of the International Union of Gas Workers objected to new contract terms that would allow the company to hire part time workers. A lockout of 109 days marked the acrimonious period.

Relations with the community, however, continue to be cordial. The Washington Area Fuel Fund initiated by WGL has raised $9 million since its inception in 1983 to provide fuel for poor families. Other community based programs supported by WGL included fixing up homes for senior citizens and disabled people, health care for needy children, and programs aimed to reduce infant mortality, a significant health problem in the District of Columbia.

The 1990s and Beyond

During the 1990s, the effects of deregulation of electric and gas utilities began to trickle down to the consumer level. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission rewrote merger regulations, opening the utility company arena to acquisitions and mergers involving offshore and out of state utility companies. New entries in the gas utility business turned the heat up on WGL. Consolidation, improved marketing strategy, and focusing on new markets characterized WGL's response.

In the mid-1990s, competition was focused between natural gas and electricity in the lucrative residential market, the primary source of the company's net income. While WGL continued to enjoy a price advantage over electricity, the entry into the marketplace of other natural gas providers posed a threat to WGL's monopoly. During the fall of 1996, thousands of residents in Montgomery and Prince George's counties (suburbs of Washington, D.C.) received the option of buying natural gas from a supplier other than WGL, under a two-year pilot program ordered by state regulators. Horizon Energy, Broadstreet Energyone, and BNG, Inc. offered savings plans, guaranteed caps on gas charges, rebates, and cash advances to lure customers from WGL.

As the electric utilities jostled for increased market share, WGL expected increased competition from that quarter. In an effort to garner some of the electricity market themselves, early in 1997, WGL announced that if regulators permitted, the company planned to market electricity to consumers in the Washington, D.C. area, using transmission lines of existing distribution companies. Fuel oil was also a noteworthy competitor in areas where clients required alternate fuel sources during peak demands.

During this time, WGL obtained the natural gas to meet its customer requirements through 13 long-term gas supply contracts scheduled to expire between 1998 and 2004. During periods of peak demand, such as the winter of 1996 when the Washington, D.C. area experienced record cold spells, WGL acquired extra gas supplies as needed, sometimes at higher prices than standard contracts. About 70 percent of WGL's gas supplies were transmitted through facilities of Columbia Gas System, a Reston, Virginia, based natural gas company that in 1997 announced plans to construct a pipeline to carry natural gas from western Canada, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Rocky Mountain region. These additional gas supplies were expected to help moderate prices in the future. With service agreements with eight interstate pipelines, WGL bought natural gas from more than 60 suppliers. Gas was also acquired under seasonal contracts or spot market purchases.

Another WGL savings strategy was to shift a certain amount of service and installation work to independent contractors. Consumer complaints about unsatisfactory, and at times unsafe, contractor work increased during the mid-1990s. In response, Washington Gas Watch: A Coalition to Protect the Public was established in 1997 by a group of community organizations to monitor contractors who work for WGL.

James H. DeGraffenreidt, Jr., president and chief operating officer of WGL, predicted in a late 1996 interview with American Gas that in the Company's future "you will see continuing trends in consolidation.... You will see innovations, primarily in information technology, that will make it possible for customers to take greater control over the multiplicity of services." Indeed, throughout the last half of the 1990s, WGL was faced with transforming itself into a more consumer-oriented utility. Several new gas suppliers had entered the Washington, D.C. suburban marketplace. Competition required rethinking corporate marketing strategy. Winning back customers who switched to one of the other gas suppliers--EnergyOne, Enron, Horizon and BGE--was one aspect. Persuading customers who used another energy source to switch to gas was another strategy to improve market share. Moreover, since a competitive marketplace demands a responsive organization, WGL encouraged employees to work with greater autonomy to achieve objectives. Efforts to consolidate were underway. In 1996, Frederick Gas Company was merged into the parent company.

pop (2000e) 5 894 100; area
176 473 km²/68 139 sq mi. State in NW USA,
divided into 39 counties; the ‘Evergreen State’; first settled in
the late 18th-c, part of Oregon Territory, a prosperous fur-trading
area; Britain and the USA quarrelled over the region until the
international boundary was fixed by treaty to lie along the 49th
parallel, 1846; became a territory, 1853; joined the Union as the
42nd state, 1889; after arrival of the railway (1887), developed
through lumbering and fishing; Seattle an important outfitting
point during the Alaskan gold rush, 1897–9; capital, Olympia; other
chief cities, Seattle, Tacoma, Edmonds, Bellingham; bounded N by
Canada (British Columbia), NW by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, W by
the Pacific Ocean; rivers include the Columbia, Snake, Okanogan,
Sanpoil, Yakima; Olympic Peninsula with the Olympic Mts in the NW
(Mt Olympus 2428 m/7966 ft); Puget Sound to the E,
extending c.160 km/100 mi inland, with numerous bays and
islands; Cascade Range runs N–S through the middle of the state;
mountainous and forested country in the W; dry and arid land in the
E; highest point Mt Rainier (4395 m/14 419 ft); Mt
Saint Helens volcano in the S (erupted May 1980); North Cascades
National Park; apples (nation's largest crop), wheat, livestock,
dairy produce; aircraft, aerospace, oil refining, food processing;
mining (wide range of minerals); major tourist area; substantial
Indian population and several reservations.

38°54N 77°02W, pop (2000e) 572 000. Capital of the
USA, co-extensive with the District of Columbia; situated between
Maryland and Virginia, on the E bank of the Potomac R, at its
junction with the Anacostia R; the US legislative, administrative,
and judicial centre: the Federal Government provides most of the
city's employment; site chosen in 1790 by George Washington,
planned by Pierre L'Enfant; occupied by the Federal Government,
1800; sacked and burned by the British, 1814; centre of government,
justice, and law enforcement; two airports (Reagan National,
Dulles); railway; five universities; professional teams, Bullets
(basketball), Capitals (ice hockey), Redskins (football); the
International Spy Museum opened in 2002.

Washington is a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Idaho to the east and British Columbia, Canada to the north. Its coastal location and Puget Sound harbors give it
a leading role in trade with Alaska, Canada, and the Pacific Rim. The deep forests of the Olympic Peninsula are
among the rainiest places
in the world and the only rainforests (such as the Hoh Rain Forest) in the
continental United
States, but the flat semi-desert that lies east of the Cascade Range stretches
for long distances without a single tree. Mount
Rainier, the highest mountain in the state, appears to "float"
on the horizon southeast of Seattle and Tacoma on clear days. The eastern side of the
state can be divided into two regions: the Okanogan Highlands and the Columbia River Basin.
Areas under the management of the National Park
Service include:

Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve near
Coupeville

Fort Vancouver National Historic Site at
Vancouver

Klondike Gold Rush Seattle Unit National Historical
Park in Seattle

Lake Chelan National Recreation Area near Stehekin

Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area along
the Columbia River

Lewis and Clark National Historic
Trail

Mount Rainier National Park

Nez Perce National Historical Park

North Cascades National Park near Marblemount

Olympic
National Park at Port Angeles

Ross Lake National Recreation Area at Newhalem

San Juan Island National Historical Park in
Friday Harbor

Whitman Mission National Historic Site at
Walla
Walla

Geographical features

Puget
Sound

Bainbridge Island

Camano
Island

Whidbey
Island

Vashon
Island

San Juan
Islands

Columbia
River

Snake
River

Yakima
River

Cascade
Range

Mount Adams

Mount
Baker

Glacier
Peak

Mount
Rainier

Mount St.
Helens

Mount
Stuart

Olympic
Mountains

Mount Olympus

History

Prior to the arrival of explorers from Europe, this region of the Pacific Coast had many
established tribes of Native
Americans, each with its own unique culture. In the east,
nomadic tribes traveled the land and missionaries such as the
Whitmans settled
there.

The first European
record of a landing on the Washington coast was by Spanish Captain Don Bruno de Heceta
in 1775, on board the Santiago, part of a two-ship flotilla with the
Sonora. They claimed all the coastal lands up to the
Russian possessions in
the north for Spain.

In 1778, British explorer Captain James Cook sighted Cape Flattery, at the entrance to the Strait of Juan de
Fuca, but the straits would not be explored until 1789, by
Captain Charles
W. Further explorations of the straits were performed by
Spanish
explorers Manuel
Quimper in 1790 and Francisco de Eliza in 1791, then by British Captain
George
Vancouver in 1792.

The Spanish Nootka
Convention of 1790 opened the northwest territory to explorers
and trappers from other nations, most notably Britain and then the
United States. Captain Robert Gray (for whom Grays Harbor county is named) then discovered the
mouth of the Columbia
River. The Lewis
and Clark expedition entered the state on October 10, 1805.

In 1819, Spain ceded their original claims to this territory to the
United States. This began a period of disputed
joint-occupancy by Britain and the U.S. that lasted until
June 15, 1846, when Britain ceded their
claims to this land with the Treaty of Oregon.

What was to become Washington State's first family was that of
Washington's founder, the Black pioneer George Washington
Bush and his White wife, Isabella James Bush, from Missouri and
Tennessee, respectively. www.ci.tumwater.wa.us/research%20bushTOC.htm

Because of the overland migration along the Oregon Trail, many settlers
wandered north to what is now Washington and settled the Puget Sound area. In 1853,
Washington
Territory was formed from part of Oregon Territory.

Washington became the 42nd state in the United States on November 11, 1889.

Early prominent industries in the state included agriculture and
lumber. One city in particular, Aberdeen, had the
distinction of being "the roughest town west of the Mississippi"
because of excessive gambling, violence, extreme drug use and prostitution (the city itself changed very little over
the years and remained off-limits to military personnel well into
the early 1980s).

For a long period, Tacoma was noted for its large smelters where gold,
silver, copper and lead ores were treated. The region around
eastern Puget Sound developed heavy industry during the period
including World War
I and World War
II, and the Boeing
company became an established icon in the area.

During the Great
Depression, a series of hydroelectric dams were constructed along the
Columbia river as part of a project to increase the production of
electricity. This
culminated in 1941 with the completion of the Grand Coulee Dam, the
largest dam in the United States.

During World War
II, the Puget Sound area became a focus for war industries,
with the Boeing Company
producing many of the nation's heavy bombers and ports in Seattle, Bremerton, and
Tacoma were
available for the manufacture of warships. In eastern Washington,
the Hanford Works
atomic energy
plant was opened in 1943 and played a major role in the
construction of the nation's atomic bombs.

On May 18, 1980, following a period of heavy
tremors and eruptions, the northeast face of Mount St. Helens
exploded outward, destroying a large part of the top of the
volcano. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a
net increase of 134,242 people, and migration within the country
produced a net increase of 80,974 people.

As of 2004, Washington's population included 631,500 foreign-born
(10.3% of the state population), and an estimated 100,000 illegal
aliens (1.6% of state population).fact

Washington is currently the 12th fastest growing state.fact

The six largest reported ancestries in Washington are: German (18.7%), English (12%), Irish (11.4%), Norwegian (6.2%),
Mexican (5.6%)
and Filipino
(3.7%).

There are many migrant Mexican farm workers living in the
southeast-central part of the state, though are also increasing as
laborers in Western Washington.

Washington is the location of many Indian reservations, with some
placing prominent casinos next to major interstate highways, and
residents have adopted many of the artwork themes of the northwest
coast indians who were noted for totem poles, longhouses, dugout canoes and pictures of animals such as the design
used for the Seattle Seahawks. Significant business within the state
include the design and manufacture of jet aircraft (Boeing), computer software development (Microsoft, Amazon.com, Nintendo of America), electronics, biotechnology, aluminum production, lumber
and wood products, mining, and tourism. See list of United States companies by state.

The state of Washington is one of only seven states that does not
levy a personal income
tax. The total value of its livestock and specialty products
was $1.5 billion, the 26th highest.

In 2004, Washington ranked first in the nation in production of red
raspberries (90.0% of
total U.S.
production), wrinkled seed peas (80.6%), hops (75.0%), spearmint oil (73.6%), apples (58.1%), sweet cherries (47.3%), pears (42.6%), peppermint oil (40.3%), Concord grapes (39.3%), carrots for processing (36.8%), and Niagara grapes (31.6%).
Washington also ranked second in the nation in production of
lentils, fall potatoes, dry edible peas,
apricots, grapes (all varieties taken
together), asparagus
(over a third of the nation's production), sweet corn for processing,
and green peas for processing; third in tart cherries, prunes and plums, and dry summer onions; and fifth in wheat, cranberries, and strawberries.

Transportation

Washington has an extensive system of state highways, called
State Routes, as well as the third-largest ferry system in
the world. There are 140 public
airfields in Washington, including 16 state airports owned by the Washington State Department of Transportation.
Washington is home for the five longest floating bridges in the
world: the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge, Lacey V.
Hadley Bridge over Lake Washington, and the Hood Canal Bridge
connecting the Olympic and Kitsap Peninsulas.

Law and government

The bicameral
Washington State Legislature is the state's legislative branch.
The state
legislature is composed of a lower House of
Representatives and an upper State Senate, with 49 legislative districts apiece.

The U.S. Congress

The two U.S.
Senators from Washington are Senator Patty Murray (D) and
Senator Maria
Cantwell (D).

Legislature

Washington State Legislature

Washington House of
Representatives

Washington State Senate

Judicial

Washington Supreme Court

Politics

The state has been thought of as politically divided by the
Cascade
Mountains, with Western Washington being liberal (particularly greater
Seattle) and Eastern Washington being conservative. In 1968, it was
the only Western state to give its electoral votes to Hubert Humphrey.

While the Democratic Party has long dominated Washington,
the 2004 Washington gubernatorial election was among
the closest races in United States election history. This final
recount overturned the initial results and resulted in a lead for
Christine
Gregoire, the Democratic candidate, of 129 votes, or 0.0045% of
the 2,810,058 votes cast.2004 Washington State
Gubernatorial Election 2nd Recount Results As this second
recount was the last allowed for by Washington election law,
Gregoire was inaugurated on 12 January 2005.
The final official count left Gregoire ahead by 133 votes.

Washington has the distinction for being the first and so far only
state to elect women to all three major statewide offices (state
governor and two U.S. Senate seats) at the same time.

On January 30,
2006 Governor Christine
Gregoire signed into law legislation making Washington the 17th
state in the nation to protect gay and lesbian people from
discrimination in housing, lending, and employment, and the 7th
state in the nation to offer these protections to transgendered
people. As a result, the law went into effect on June 7, 2006.

See also List of Washington Governors

Important cities and towns

Seattle

Spokane

Tacoma

Tri-Cities

Vancouver

Bellevue

Everett

Bremerton

Bellingham

Yakima

Olympia

Port Angeles

Education

Colleges and universities

State
universities

Central Washington University

Eastern Washington University

The
Evergreen State College

University of Washington

Washington State University

Western Washington University

Private
universities

Antioch University Seattle

Argosy University/Seattle

Art Institute of Seattle

Bastyr
University

City University

Cornish College of the Arts

DeVry
University

DigiPen Institute of Technology

Gonzaga University

Henry Cogswell College

Heritage College

Northwest University

Pacific Lutheran University

St. Martin's University

School of Visual Concepts

Seattle Bible College

Seattle Pacific University

Seattle University

Trinity Lutheran College

University of Puget Sound

Walla Walla College

Whitman
College

Whitworth College

Community colleges

Bates Technical College

Bellevue Community College

Bellingham Technical College

Big Bend Community College

Cascadia Community College

Centralia College

Clark College

Clover Park Technical College

Columbia Basin College

Edmonds Community College

Everett Community College

Grays Harbor College

Green River Community College

Highline Community College

Lake Washington Technical
College

Lower Columbia College

Olympic
College

Peninsula College

Pierce
College

Renton Technical College

Seattle Community College
District

Shoreline Community College

Skagit Valley College

South Puget Sound Community
College

Spokane Community College

Spokane Falls Community College

Tacoma Community College

Walla Walla Community College

Wenatchee Valley College

Whatcom Community College

Yakima Valley Community College

Professional sports teams

Club

Sport

League

City & Stadium

Seattle
Seahawks

Football

National Football League;NFC

Seattle, Qwest Field

Seattle
Mariners

Baseball

Major
League Baseball;AL

Seattle, Safeco
Field

Seattle
SuperSonics

Basketball

National Basketball Association

Seattle, KeyArena

Seattle
Thunderbirds

Ice
Hockey

Western Hockey League

Seattle, KeyArena

Seattle
Storm

Basketball

Women's National Basketball Association

Seattle, KeyArena

Seattle
Sounders

Soccer

USL First
Division(men's)
W-League
(women's)

Seattle, Qwest
Field

Bellingham
Slam

Basketball

American Basketball Association

Bellingham, Whatcom Community College

Bellevue
Blackhawks

Basketball

American Basketball Association

Bellevue, Meydenbauer Center

Everett
Silvertips

Ice Hockey

Western Hockey League

Everett, Everett Events Center

Spokane
Chiefs

Ice Hockey

Western Hockey League

Spokane, Spokane Arena

Tri-City
Americans

Ice Hockey

Western Hockey League

Kennewick, Toyota
Center

Tri-City
Fever

Indoor
Football

National Indoor Football League

Kennewick, Toyota Center

Tri-City Dust Devils

Baseball

Northwest
League;A

Pasco, Tri-City Stadium

Tacoma
Rainiers

Baseball

Pacific
Coast League;AAA

Tacoma, Cheney Stadium

Spokane
Indians

Baseball

Northwest
League;A

Spokane, Avista Stadium

Everett
AquaSox

Baseball

Northwest
League;A

Everett, Everett Memorial Stadium

Yakima
Bears

Baseball

Northwest
League;A

Yakima, Yakima County Stadium

Everett
Hawks

Arena
Football

AF2

Everett, Everett Events Center

Spokane
Shock

Arena Football

AF2

Spokane, Spokane Arena

Miscellaneous topics

Three ships of the United States Navy, including two battleships, have been
named USS
Washington in honor of the state.

State symbols

The State song is
"Washington,
My Home", the State bird is the American Goldfinch and the State fruit is the
Apple.